Six Feet Under, a television drama about a family run funeral home, leads the nominations for this year's Emmy awards. Nominees were announced early Thursday morning in Los Angeles. The offbeat TV series received 23 nominations and a series about the White House received 21.
Six Feet Under, the drama from the HBO cable network, is a contender for the Emmy for outstanding dramatic series. So is last year's big Emmy winner, The West Wing. That series, about a fictional U.S. president has 21 nominations, including one for the star of the show, Martin Sheen.
Actress Laura Innes from the popular hospital series ER read the list of nominees for best drama. For the 11th time, they include a long-running series on police and prosecutors, Law and Order.
"The nominations in the drama series category are: CSI, Crime Scene Investigation, Law and Order, Six Feet Under, 24, and The West Wing," Ms. Innes announced.
24 is a new series from the Fox network. The espionage thriller takes viewers through a 24-hour story in segments, hour by hour. Star Kiefer Sutherland is a nominee for best dramatic actor.
The HBO cable network, part of media giant AOL Time Warner, leads the nominations overall, with 93. The NBC broadcast network is in second place with 89.
HBO's acclaimed World War II epic Band of Brothers earned 19 nominations, including one for best miniseries.
Missing from the list this year was The Sopranos, HBO's Emmy-winning series about a family of mobsters. The show was out of the running because its new segments did not run during the eligibility period.
The 54th annual Emmy Awards will be presented Sunday, September 22, by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Academy official Bryce Zabel promises no cancellations. The awards were delayed twice last year because of the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington and the U.S. led bombing of Afghanistan.